October 2022 Housing Market Update for Austin, TX MSA
October 2022 Housing Market Update for Austin, TX MSA
October 2022 statistics have been released for the Central Texas Housing market. There was a slight increase in median sales price from the preceding month and a 4% increase from the preceding year for the entire Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The City of Austin saw no change in month to month median sale price from $555,000, and a 3% increase from the previous year. The Austin-Round Rock MSA saw a change in median sale price from $470,000 to $474,990 a month to month increase of $4,990 and an 4% increase from the previous year.
The following infographics and data is courtesy of the Austin Board of Realtors:
Housing inventory for the MSA saw a slight increase month to month inventory from 3.1 months in September to 3.2 months for October, and a 2.2 months increase over the preceding year. The City of Austin saw a slight increase month to month inventory from 2.7 months in August to 2.8 months for September, and a 1.8 months increase over the preceding year.
I have been tracking the withdrawn and expired listings and have highlighted an acceleration with those data points. This metric was the highest we have seen in years for September with 1,506 withdrawn and October has surpassed that figure with 1,877 withdrawn or expired listings. That is 84% of the closed sales, which was 2,244 as reported by ABOR during that same timeframe.
The real estate market has a typical annual cycle approaching the winter months wherein housing activity tends to dwindle naturally each year. October saw a sharp decrease in new listings, down 13% for the MSA and 18% for the City of Austin. Combine this data with the increase of withdrawn sales and it may be more than a typical slow winter season and more akin with what market analysts have dubbed a seller’s strike.
The Federal Reserve holds tremendous sway over interest rates which in turn can affect home prices. The simple but not perfect math is that every 1% increase in interest rates translates to a 10% decrease in buying power. The Federal reserve may well keep on their path of raising interest rates but the laws of supply and demand hold true as well. As homes become less affordable there will be a natural counterbalance of increased renters if there is not equal sales volume. Especially in a growing market like Austin. Additional rate hikes will continue to put downward pressure on prices but watching trends this is the first month since April of this year where a continued decrease did not occur.
Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational purposes only, past performance is never a guarantee of future performance.